Chapter Text
Caro Anthony,
If you’re reading this, you must be in dire need of a change.
The same thing happened to me, long ago. I’d lost sight of what mattered most in life…real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong.
I’ve enclosed the deed to that place…my pride and joy: Paradise Farm. It’s located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It’s the perfect place to start your new life.
This was my most precious gift of all, and now it’s yours. I know you’ll honor the family name. Good luck.
Con amore, angelo mio
Nonna
Angel’s hands shook as he read the letter again, a tear slipping down the end of his nose and splatting onto the paper. He wiped his soaked hoodie sleeve across his face for what felt like the hundredth time, but it didn’t stop the tears from coming.
It wasn’t even his hoodie – it was Molly’s. As of that morning, he didn’t own any of his things anymore. The expensive dresses, the slutty clubwear, even his underwear – they were all left behind. The only things he owned were clothes he’d arrived in at the hospital, now shoved into the backpack on the seat next to him, and what Molly had bought him at Target on her way to pick him up. He was lucky he’d had his wallet on him when he’d been brought in.
Well, lucky wasn’t the word. Nothing about his life was lucky. Except maybe the paper in his hands, lightly splotched with tears he’d swiped away so the ink wouldn’t bleed.
Still, he could barely believe that his Nonna had left him the farm. For at least ten years of his childhood, his mother had brought them down in the summers to stay with her. They would play in the sprinklers, pick tomatoes in the morning for dinner that night, and go fishing with Nonno in the few years before he passed. Angel could still remember the look of pride on his face when he’d hooked a whopper of a catfish, the way his eyes crinkled with joy.
He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had looked at him like that. For all he knew, that fishing trip might have been the last time. His father had certainly never looked at him like that.
Angel wiped his tears again and resolutely folded the letter back into its envelope, trying to ignore the way the last line stung. I know you’ll honor the family name.
His Nonna had lived long enough to see him disowned, but not long enough to change her will, it seemed.
The bus was empty save for Angel and the burly driver, who squinted every so often into the rearview mirror as though trying to place him. Angel avoided eye contact, and leaned his head instead against the window, watching the endless green hills roll by.
His life was so utterly fucked, and he didn’t even know which of the Jenga blocks had sent it all crashing down.
One minute he’d been on top of the world – his name lighting up stages he’d never thought he’d reach, a five-figure Insta follower count, a gorgeous man on his arm. The next minute was a blur of cameras, pills, bruising, and just fucking red , until he’d opened his eyes to a pale blue hospital room. He fidgeted with the bracelet around his wrist. The one Molly had gotten him the first time he’d tried to go clean.
The bus rumbled over a rough patch in the road and Angel checked his pocket instinctively for his phone before remembering he’d handed it over to Molly. He wondered how many times Val had texted. Had he tried to call? Had Molly answered? He couldn’t even call her to ask. Angel shuddered to imagine the things Val might be saying to her. The sun was high in the sky now – there was no way Val hadn’t noticed he was missing, yet. He’d be looking for him. But would he be able to find him all the way out in the stix?
Angel tried to picture Valentino riding the bus, his long, fur-lined coat tucked up against the peeling leather, arms crossed and huffing in annoyance as seven hours of empty nature rolled past the windows.
The thought made him smile despite himself, and he closed his eyes. Val would rather die than take the bus. He’d said as much when they’d been dating, in the early days before Angel moved in with him. Angel hoped he hadn’t been exaggerating.
A loud hiss and a whine jerked Angel awake a while later, and he realized the bus had stopped.
“Last stop, Pentagram Town,” droned the driver, glancing around at him.
Angel shimmied out of his seat and slung the bag over his shoulder. “Thanks,” he nodded to the driver.
“Don’t I know you from someplace?” asked the driver, squinting again. Angel shook his head, avoiding eye contact.
“Sorry, don’t think so.” He shrugged, and quickly descended the three steps to the ground before the driver could ask any more questions.
The sun hung lower now, shining golden light through the treetops, and Angel took a deep, deep breath, savoring the sweet smell of the spring air around him. God, he missed this. It had been years since he’d been out of the city, and the air out here was such a stark contrast to the smell of hot trash and asphalt that permeated the city in the heavy heat.
The bus rumbled off and just like that he was alone, kicking up dust on the side of the road.
Fuck, it was quiet out here. There was no rumble of cars, or distant laughter or shouting. No sirens screaming miles away. Just…crickets. Literal crickets.
And footsteps – somewhere nearby – crunching on the gravel trail.
Angel whirled around to see a blonde woman nearly as tall as himself approaching, waving enthusiastically with a smile from ear to ear.
“Hi there! You must be Anthony!” she almost sang, bounding the last few steps to shake his hand with both of her own. “Molly gave us a call earlier that you’d be arriving on the evening bus. I’m Charlie Magne! Welcome to Pentagram Town! We’re sooo excited to have you here with us!”
“I – thank you?” Angel’s fingers felt like they might snap off in the strength of her grip. He slid a smile into place and hid his hand behind his back to shake out the strain in his knuckles. “Did…Molly say anything else?”
Charlie smiled blankly. “About what? Oh!” Her eyes widened, and she pressed her fingertips together with something close to a guilty expression. “Well she did give me a little um… context, but you don’t have to worry, my lips are sealed.” She mimed locking her mouth shut and throwing the key over her shoulder. “And I’ve been trying to get a Meeting set up at the Community Center. You’re not the only resident here with certain um…difficulties in their background.”
“Right…” Angel nodded, still smiling, but inside his stomach plummeted. He hadn’t expected a welcome wagon – he hadn’t expected anyone to know who he was at all.
He’d forgotten the risks of small town life. Of course people would care that Nonna Ragno’s grandson had come to take over the long-abandoned family farm. Of course they’d come out to greet him the second he got off the bus. This wasn’t New York by a long shot.
Nonna had always seemed to know everything about everybody in town. She told them all about it when they visited. Fuck, was he going to have to deal with a bunch of nosy neighbors poking and prodding him about why he had to move? He’d have to come up with an answer to that pretty soon. He wasn’t sure how well this broad could keep a secret, she seemed chatty enough on first meeting. But then again, if Molly trusted her enough to give her the dirty details, maybe she wasn’t all bad.
Charlie clapped her hands together. “Let me show you the way to Paradise – not that you don’t remember! I know you’ve been here before, but sometimes you know, if it’s been a while…”
“It’s fine,” said Angel, following her back towards the gravel path. “I ain’t been here in a hot second.”
“My dad would normally be the one coming out to greet new residents, but he’s been a little, well…busy lately.” Angel didn’t miss the flicker of a frown that crossed her bright face before they entered the heavy shadows of the tree-covered path.
“Let me think if anything’s changed…As you know, a few of our older residents have, well, you know, passed on, so a few of our businesses have changed hands. Miss Rosie runs the general store now, in the center of town, and on Sundays she runs a small tea parlor upstairs! And ummm…oh, yes, the sweetest man has taken over your grandfather’s old store at the dock. It was empty for years, but I think you’ll really like what Pentious has done with it. What else…umm…we have a new blacksmith–”
“Wait, what happened to Old Man Huskins?” Angel interrupted, his heart plummeting. Charlie made a face that said it all, and he groaned. “Aw, no. He was so nice, too. He and my Nonno were like this.” He crossed his fingers. Charlie nodded.
“It’s certainly been rough on the town, losing that generation. They were all so lovely. Every time I talked to your grandmother she always had a gift from her garden. They were always the best crops at the Fair…”
She drifted off into silence, and Angel let out a long sigh. He was tired – exhausted from crying, achey from sleeping on the bus, and sore from…well, everything else he’d been through that week. He forced himself to look at the ground beneath his feet as the gravel thinned out into dirt. He was here, now. He was safe.
“Well, here you are! Paradise!” Charlie exclaimed. Angel looked up from the ground, and felt all the air leave his lungs.
The farm was a disaster. Gone was his Nonna’s beautiful garden, and in its place the underbrush had crept up from the edges of the forest and formed a tangled thicket. Rotting sticks and logs littered the property, thick with white lichen and moss, next to splintered tree stumps and jutting rocks. The only thing that bore a passing resemblance to the vaseline-lens dreams of his childhood was the house, strong and sturdy, lofted on a wooden porch overlooking the property.
“Wha…what the fuck happened to it?” he exclaimed.
“What do you mean?” Charlie looked around. “I guess it’s been a while since anyone’s been here. But don’t worry! It’s just a little overgrown, I’m sure you can whip it back into shape, no problem.”
“Me? ” Angel stared at her. He raised one hand, flashing his french tips at her. “Do I look like a fuckin’ farmer to you, toots?”
Charlie shrugged her shoulders all the way up to the base of her quickly reddening ears. “Oh, I mean…it’s up to you what you do with your time. I just thought it–”
“Well you thought wrong,” said Angel, shaking his head. “I don’t know what I’m even doin’ here. But I ain’t here to work the land, or whateva. I’m only here until…” He broke off.
How long was he going to stay here? Until Val gave up the search? Until he found him? Until Angel caved and came crawling back for one more hit? Angel clenched his fists until his fingers dug into his palms.
“Hey, I’m sorry,” said Charlie quickly. “I know you’ve been through a lot lately. Let’s get you inside so you can rest, how ‘bout that?”
Wordlessly, Angel followed her up the steps into the house.He was relieved to find that inside it looked more or less the same as it had when his Nonna had been alive. All of her furniture was still there, as well as her decor.
“I came by and gave it a clean earlier today, and bought you a few necessities,” said Charlie, opening one of the kitchen cabinets to reveal paper towels, flour, and oil. “And utilities are all set up except the internet. I can send you the bill once you’re more settled.”
“I ain’t got a job,” said Angel, his voice hollow. He hadn’t thought about that, yet. Everything had happened so fast.
“Oh! Uh…well, sometimes people need odd jobs done. There’s a bulletin board by Rosie’s shop where they post them – OH!” She clapped her hands together suddenly. “I just had a great idea, why don’t you spend tomorrow introducing yourself to everyone in town! You can tell them you’re looking for work and see if anyone’s hiring.”
Angel didn’t even pretend to smile at that. That sounded like his personal nightmare.
“We’ll see,” he said, sliding what he hoped was a warm smile back across his face. “I gotta get some sleep first, though, I’m fuckin’ spent.”
“Of course.” Charlie showed herself to the door. “If you need anything, I live in the big blue house right in the center of town!”
She lingered a moment, and before Angel could ask, she threw her arms around him.
“Welcome home, Anthony,” she said in a slightly muffled voice into his shoulder.
Before Angel could respond, she let go, waving at him with one last, “Goodnight!”, and shut the door behind her, leaving Angel – for the first time in weeks – well and truly on his own.
